Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia

After making the incredibly boring drive through the heart of Illinois to Chicago. We arrived at our friends house that evening.   We spent the next 2 days visiting with the friends we were staying with as well as Jodi's Aunt and Uncle who live in the area.  Friday morning we made the short trip around the southern tip of Lake Michigan to Kalamazoo.  There we spent the night with Jodi's childhood friend, her husband and their 7 month-old son.   After eating breakfast Saturday morning we left Kalamazoo and headed to Fort Wayne Indiana.  There we spent the next two days visiting with one of Tim's friend from Trumansburg, his wife, their 2 year-old son, and 2 month-old daughter.   It was nice to be able to swing through this part of the country to spend time with friends and family we rarely get to see. We had a great time visiting and catching up with all of them. 

After dinner on Sunday evening we left Fort Wayne, Indiana and drove south to Bowling Green, Kentucky.  Monday we spent the day at Mammoth Cave National Park, which was sadly, our last national park stop of the trip.  We went on a 4.5 hour, 4 mile, ranger-led hike through a section of the cave.  The ranger leading the tour was quick to point out that our hike only covered 1% of the entire area of cave passageways.  The hike even included a lunch break at picnic tables in a large open area of the cave called the snowball room. There the National Park service set up a makeshift cafeteria with bagged lunches and restrooms.  Hiking through the cave was amazing, we definitely would like to return to go on some of the other hikes the park offers.  

Bowling Green Kentucky is home to the one and only GM Corvette assembly plant.  Tim woke up early Tuesday morning to go on the tour of the plant.  There he walked along the floor of plant where he was fascinated watching all stages of the Corvette assembly.  After he returned from the tour, we loaded up the car and made our way to Atlanta (our final stop before Tampa).  

We rolled in to Atlanta Tuesday evening.  As soon as we checked in to our hotel, we headed straight to Trader Joe's.  During our time in California and Nevada we have come to love this grocery chain.  Unfortunately, the closest Trader Joe's to Tampa is right here in Atlanta.  Because of this we stocked up on some of our favorite non-perishables, including the Charles Shaw wine aka 2-buck Chuck.  Which apparently is $2 only on the West Coast, as it is $2.79 Chuck in Atlanta (and I've heard it's even more expensive elsewhere along the East Coast).

We spent today in Downtown Atlanta exploring the Georgia Aquarium and The Wold of Coca-Cola.  We had a great time seeing all of the aquatic wildlife at the aquarium.  The best part of the aquarium is the 6.3 million gallon Ocean Voyager exhibit, which is home to four Whale Sharks and Manta Rays.  We were slightly disappointed at the minimal number of exhibits given the size of the building.  At the World of Coke we enjoyed learning about the history of the company through the various exhibits and tasting the different Coke products from around the world.  

Tomorrow morning we will load up the car and make the final leg of our 17-day cross country journey.  Unfortunately, our amazing trip will to come to an end once we arrive in Tampa tomorrow afternoon.  Bogey will be pleased to be in one place for a long period of time with a yard to run around.  We wish we could continue to explore the country one national park at a time, but unfortunately we have to get back to the real world and return to work. We have decided that working really gets in the way of this traveling lifestyle we have come to love.  

Here are the rest of the pictures.